


Summer in New York

by thatcrazywriterley



Series: Seasons of Love Series [3]
Category: Chris Evans - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Angst, F/M, Pregnancy, Romance, Romanian language, Seasons of love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2019-10-29 21:32:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: A pregnant Tati Dalca begins the summer with her cousin Sebastian in New York City while her fiance, Chris Evans, handles the fallout of a visit with his parents in Sudbury. As the weather gets hotter and the city crazier, Tati has to deal with pregnancy, a part-time fiance, and a hostess who really wants her out.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

            “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I shouted, looking around at the boxes that were stacked against the wall.

            “You say that a lot, you know that?” Sebastian said, trying to hide a chuckle. He leaned against the doorway, watching as I went through the things that had been shipped from Romania.

            “ _Nici un rahat_ ,” I spat. “This was all supposed to go into storage. Why did it come here?”

            The look on my cousin’s face was enough to know that he had something to do with it. My first thought was to launch myself at him to get an answer, but I knew I couldn’t. As days and months went by, I became more aware of how big I was getting. It wasn’t easy to forget I was pregnant these days.

            “What did you do, Seb?”

            He rolled his eyes and sank down in the chair by the door. “You need to go through it. Figure out what you want right now and what you can do without for a while.”

            “Why?” I waddled toward him, surprised that I was using such a term to describe myself so soon. It was strange, it felt like my body had entirely changed.

            “Chris.” Sebastian said it like that was enough to explain everything.

            I settled my hand on my stomach and sank down onto the footstool by him. A wave of melancholy washed over me as I thought of Chris. It felt as if ages had passed since the last time we’d been able to spend any time together. Not long after the disaster at his mother’s place in Boston, he’d had to fly to Atlanta to finish some filming for the next Avengers movie. He promised that he wouldn’t be gone long, but it felt like forever.

            “What are the two of you up to?” A smile spread across my face. Whenever they got something in their heads, they couldn’t be stopped.

            For a moment, I didn’t think he was going to answer. Sebastian could be like that sometimes. It made it easier to think of him as my brother instead of my cousin. Without a word, he took my hands in his. His thumbs worked slowly along my palms, easing the pressure that built up in my limbs these days.

            “Whatever you can live without right now is getting shipped out to L.A.,” he said conspiratorially. “The rest is going to his apartment here in New York. It’s my job to help get you settled while Chris is in Atlanta.”

            My heart felt like it was going to burst. The tears were always close to the surface lately. “So… it’s official.”

            My cousin grinned. “Pretty much. We’re supposed to go see the attorney at the end of the week about your visa and stuff.”

            I pulled one hand away from his grip and wiped at the tears pooling along my lashes. “Sometimes I can’t believe it,” I whispered. My throat felt swollen and thick. “And to think I was pissed at you at the beginning.”

            “Most geniuses are reviled in their own time,” Seb stated. His words were jovial and teasing, but I could tell from the set of his smile and the light in his eyes that he was happy for me. Chris and I had been through enough in the past six months that any bit of happiness was enough to celebrate.

            “Seriously,” I said, squeezing his fingers with mine. “After everything that happened with _Mama și Tata_ , I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

            Sebastian gathered me into one of his signature bear hugs. He kissed the top of my head as he snuggled me up against his chest. “It’s what family does, Little Dalca.”

            “Promise you’ll come visit. A lot.”

            “Not even Evans can stop me from coming to see you.” He pressed his hand on my stomach and smiled. “Or my _bijuterie micǎ_ here.”

            I laughed and rested my head on his shoulder. “Is there a female version of Sebastian you think?”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

            It took nearly two days for me to go through everything. Some of it was easy, like deciding which clothes would stay with me and what could go to California. Summer in New York didn’t really call for thick jackets and scarves. But some of it was more difficult.

            There were boxes of things from the school. Whenever a student made a gift, a card, or a drawing for me, I kept it. Once they left my classroom, I put it away into a box as a keepsake. I had almost forgotten how many faded pieces of construction paper and popsicle stick photo frames I’d collected over the years. Even though I knew that the apartment had limited space, it was impossible for me to part with that box.

            I sat looking at the scrawled writing of my former students. Nursery rhymes in English and riddles in Romanian. Sebastian left me alone most of the time. It gave me a chance to reminisce, to cry, and to think about what waited in the future.

            “Hey.”

            I glanced up from my place on the floor, papers and gifts strewn around me. My cousin stood in the doorway, a grin on his face.

            “You’ve got a visitor.”

            Sebastian crossed the room and held out his arms to help me stand. I let him pull me up, grunting as my weight shifted. My back ached.

            “Who is it?” I asked, frowning at the throbbing in my swollen ankles.

            He just smiled and gestured me through the door.

            It felt as if the air had been sucked away when I stepped into the living room. Chris leaned against the wall, staring out the window at the street below. His broad shoulders were set off by the navy Boston Boys Club t-shirt he wore. There was a new growth of stubble along his jaw. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.

            My heart thumped, and tears burned against my lashes. “Chris.”

            He turned at the sound of my voice, a smile stretching over his face and lighting up his blue eyes. “Tati,” he murmured, my name like a prayer.

            I felt myself moving before I made the conscious decision to do so. Chris came toward me, his smile burning brighter with every step.

            We fell into each other’s arms. He cradled me close, hands settled on my back as if I were going to break. I sighed as I pressed my cheek against his chest, letting myself remember how he smelled and the strength and comfort in his embrace.

            “I missed you so much,” I whispered, hugging him as tightly as I could.

            He kissed my forehead softly. “I missed you, too.” Chris stroked his palm down my side and curved it around my growing belly. “How do you feel?”

            “As big as a fucking house,” I replied, trying not to laugh. “And I’m not even that far along.”

            Sebastian appeared from the hallway, a sealed box held in his arms. “She’s gone through most everything that came. I shipped off part of it yesterday. I think these are the last boxes that are going to your place.”

            I looked between the two of them, sighing. “What are you two up to now?”

            Chris grinned. “We’re moving,” he said happily.

            “Today?” I didn’t have anything packed, and I desperately needed a shower.

            “Not today, but soon. Everything should be ready by Friday,” Sebastian said, more to Chris than to me.

            The two of them nodded, agreeing to some plan they’d made without my knowledge. Sometimes, it was annoying how they did things that affected me without giving me so much as a heads up. But most of the time, it was freeing. I didn’t have to worry about little things. The every day was taken care of in a way that let me spend my time doing the things that meant something to me.

            It let me have the time to work on planning my future—the one with Chris and our baby and the one with dozens and hundreds of other children. The one where we started our own school, like the one in Romania.

            As if on cue, Chris turned my attention to a package by the door. “This came in yesterday from the kids.”

            Chris had been true to his word with my former employers. He’d donated a large amount of money to the school before I’d left Romania. Now that I was here with him in the US, he continued to be their biggest benefactor. The last I’d heard, they were able to take in more students and provide them with everything they needed—particularly those whose families couldn’t do it themselves.

            I smiled, wiped at the tears slipping down my cheeks. “We’ll open it together.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

            “Don’t look yet,” Chris said softly, the grin evident in his voice. He had one hand at the small of my back to steady me as he guided me along. His other hand was wrapped around my fingers as he led me slowly up a flight of steps.

            I could hear the hustle and bustle of the street behind me. A dog barked somewhere nearby. The breeze carried with it the scent of hot pavement, trees, and flowers in heady bloom. It was summer in New York City, and Chris and I were together for it at last.

            “Can I look now?” I asked when we stopped at what I assumed was the top of the steps.

            “No,” he replied, his voice slightly masked by the sound of keys jingling. There was the unmistakable noise of metal against metal as a key slipped into a lock. “Just a little bit longer, I promise.”

            With a faint sigh, I focused on listening. The sound of traffic had quieted considerably in the few moments we had been there. The barking sounded more like the yipping of a small dog than the excited or angry growling of a larger dog. Other sounds began to filter their way over the ambient noises of the city—children laughing, the faint murmur of voices as they walked by, their shoes scuffling along the sidewalk, the rhythmic squeak of a bicycle tire as it was ridden along the street. Light and shadow played over my closed eyelids, flickering in time with the breeze that rustled through nearby leaves.

            “Hold out your hands, Tati,” Chris said from somewhere off to my right.

            “All of this is insane,” I giggled as I did what he asked. His hands were warm as they closed around my own.

            He shut the door behind me before he pulled gently on my hands. His voice whispered soft instructions as we moved. The scent of lemons and lavender washed over me as the air around us expanded and contracted as the walls grew closer and opened up again.

            “Okay,” he said at last. Chris squeezed my hands gently before letting them go. “You can open your eyes now.”

            The first thing I saw was him. He stood there in his favorite blue Henley, his dark hair falling slightly over his forehead, blue eyes bright with expectation. Everything about him reminded me of the sunlight sparkling off the waves on the Black Sea. He reminded me of afternoons on the beach in the heat of the day, Sebastian nearby on one of his rare visits to _bunică._

            Slowly, the world around him came into focus. We were inside the middle of a cozy foyer looking in to the rest of a house. A set of stairs off to the left, their polished banister leading the way up to a second and third floor. An arched entry at the bottom of the stairs led into a dining room. To the right, another entry led into what appeared to be a living room. Straight ahead, a hallway snaked past the stairs toward an open door through which I could see an island sink.

            “What is all this?” I asked, moving slowly from one room to the next. I started in the living room, fingers dragging gently along the comfortable looking furniture, the shelves that waited for books or movies. A television had already been mounted on the wall above an electric fireplace.

            Chris followed along behind, letting me explore as I liked. “It’s your house. _Our_ house.”

            I turned to find him leaning his shoulder against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he watched me take in the rooms around me. A grin ghosted over his lips, making his eyes crinkle at the corners.

            “You sold your apartment?”

            He shrugged. “It was a bro-pad. Nothing about it was prepared for a family.”

            I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what Seb used to say about his apartment. But look at what Margarita did with it.”

            Chris laughed, one of those laughs that involved his whole body. The sound of it made the room fill with light and warmth. I thought back to those first days and weeks in Boston, experiencing the city under a blanket of snow with Chris at my side. He had always made me feel as if everything would be okay.

            “I thought we could take this place and turn it into a home here. It’s close enough to Sudbury that we could visit my family when we wanted. We could get to the airport to go back to Constanta and see the kids at the school.” He moved close and rested his palm on my stomach. “I know L.A. is a long way away from everything you know. New York is a good place to have a middle ground.”

            Before I could stop myself, a sniffle escaped. My vision blurred with tears. “You are for too good to me, Chris.”

            He shook his head and leaned down, pressing his lips against my hair. “You deserve the world, Tatiana Dalca. And I’ll do my best to make sure that you—” he rubbed his thumb in gentle circles over the swell of my belly “—and this little guy get it.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

            “Are you sure you’re up for this?” Chris asked, a faint smile on his bearded face. His hair was a little longer than I’d ever seen it. He’d spent the last month in South Africa filming a new movie, and he’d come back tanned and scruffy-haired. In a way, I would hate to see it all disappear.

            “Of course,” I said, settling one hand on the wide curve of my belly. The spring had quickly bled into summer, the days lengthening even as my belly began expanding. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

            He leaned against the counter, drying his hands with a bright blue towel. His blue eyes went slightly sad. “Last time, it didn’t go so well.”

            My heart lurched even as I moved to put my arms around his waist. “I know. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it right, Chris. They’re your family, and I want to be part of that.”

            Chris sighed, taking me gently by the shoulders and pushing me back so that he could look me in the eyes. “ _You_ _are_ part of my family now, Tati. And I think they understand things better now.”

            “Even if they don’t like me… they’ll love her, right?” There was no hiding the nervousness that turned my voice small.

            “They do like you, Tati. And they are going to love you, just like they did before. And when this one shows up,” he said, pressing his palm on the side of my belly, “they’re going to be the most loved baby in the world. I promise.”

            Smiling, I leaned my forehead against his. For a brief, perfect moment, time stood still.

\---

            I stared at myself in the mirror, surprised to find that I looked almost normal again. True, my face was a little puffy and I could tell I’d gained weight, but my eyes weren’t as sad as they’d been during those long weeks without Chris. The smile on my face wasn’t a fake. For the first time in a very long time, I felt happy again.

            After wriggling into some leggings and pulling one of Chris’ Henley shirts over my head, I took the time to braid my hair and wrap it up around the top of my head. My face showed pink and clean after a quick scrub. I looked ready to face the Evans family once again.

            I heard them coming in downstairs—first Lisa and Scott, their voices muffled as they spoke quietly with Chris. There was a faint huffing followed by Chris’ excited voice. I assumed it was Dodger.

            When there wasn’t much else I could do to calm my nerves, I took a deep breath and headed down the hall to the stairs that emptied out in the living room. Chris sat next to his mom, Dodger’s head resting on his knee while his ears got scratched. Scott wasn’t far away, sitting on the arm of one of the battered sofas we’d brought from the “bro-pad.” It took a moment for them to notice me, even if I did come waddling down the stairs with a good bit of groaning.

            Scott was the first to see me. His easy smile momentarily slipped away, hidden behind a furrowed brow and worried eyes. It was gone and back again in the blink of an eye. In its place was a faint, polite smile—as if we’d never met before.

            “Good to see you again, Tatiana,” he said coolly.

            I forced myself to smile, to make it as genuine as possible. “You too,” I replied. “Would you like something to drink? I think there’s some leftovers from the spaghetti we made last night for dinner if you’re hungry.”

            “No, thanks. I ate before I got here.”

            I bit the inside of my lip, trying hard not to cry. Where once Chris’ family had welcomed me as one of their own, suddenly there was this feeling of being entirely on the outside. It was as if they were happy with me when I was just Sebastian’s cousin, visiting from overseas. A winter-time fling. Perhaps what happened when spring came around had soured them on me, but it seemed that the moment they heard the words _baby_ and _marriage_ they began to suspect the absolute worst of me.

            Did they honestly think that I had done all of this _just_ to move to America? I had a life I was proud of back in Constanta. Yes, it had been quiet and small, but it had been mine and it meant something to me. The only reason I would ever have given that up was because of Chris and how I felt about him.

            Chris glanced up just as Dodger wriggled out of his grasp. The dog bounded over to me, his tail wagging and his jaws agape in a canine smile. He bumped his nose against my shin, then looked up for confirmation that he was, in fact, a _very good boy_.

            I reached down to pat him on the head, unable to do anything more while I was still on my feet. Satisfied that he’d gotten approval, Dodger began to sniff at my belly, leaving dark spots of drool wherever he went. I giggled. It tickled.

            “Hey, Dodger,” I said, a truly happy smile on my face for the first time that night. I flopped into a wide chair and leaned as far forward as I could, cradling his face in my palms as my fingers scratched just under the bottom of his ears. His tongue lolled, big doe eyes closing in contentment. “I’ve missed you, buddy.”

            “He’s missed you, too, momma,” Chris said from a few feet away. His blue eyes danced, even as his brow furrowed in a silent question of concern. I wondered if he could see how my fingers trembled, how it was only Dodger’s warm presence that kept me from going to pieces just then. “It’ll be good to have him here with us.”

            I glanced up, trying to even out some of my joy. “Oh, but won’t Stella and Miles miss him?”

            “They can come visit. And we’ll bring him when we head to Sudbury,” he replied, his steady voice a balm to my frayed nerves. It was a wonder the baby didn’t sense my terror. Perhaps he did, but he was just as strong as his dad.

            “Tatiana,” Lisa said at last. She turned away from her son, facing me with her hands splayed out on her knees. She looked so perfectly motherly, just as she had the first time we’d met when Chris had brought me up for a visit that first time. “I’m very sorry about how things happened the last time you visited. It wasn’t fair of us to have any conversation like that without you and it’s embarrassing that we let ourselves think that way. You make Chris happy, and that’s all that matters.”

            The words were kind, and I was relatively sure that she meant them. But I couldn’t help how hurt I’d been that night. How hurt I _still_ felt.

            “Go ahead, Tati,” Chris coaxed softly. “You can say whatever you need to say. We’re going to figure this out.”

            I sighed, drew a deep breath, burrowed my fingers into Dodger’s warm fur. “What did I do to make you think that I… that I didn’t love Chris?”

            Lisa looked away, clasped her hands together in her lap. “Oh honey, we never thought that. You were never anything but good to him, even when you two had your little… _misunderstanding_. It all happened so fast, to be honest. Chris, well, when he loves, he goes all in. Quickly. And after everything that’s happened to him… none of us want to see him hurt like that again. So I think we just assumed the worst and tried to talk him out of it so he wouldn’t get the raw end of it, you know? But we didn’t do a very good job. Instead, he ended up going weeks without speaking to any of us. As a family, we messed up, Tatiana. And we’re sorry.”

            Bile rose against the back of my throat. I didn’t know whether I wanted to vomit or scream. Instead, I looked directly at Scott, who had been so very quiet. “You feel the same way?”

            Chris sat up a little straighter, puffing out his chest. Dodger growled low in his chest, the rumbling sending soothing vibrations through my fingers.

            “I overreacted,” Scott replied, deadpan.

            I glanced at Chris. It seemed as if his shoulders had gotten even broader as he straightened. Something heavy sank into my stomach—the realization that I’d never be completely accepted by the Evans family now. Not with Scott as such a staunch holdout, regardless of how Shannon and Carly felt.

            “You acted like an idiot is what you did,” Lisa said firmly. She looked back at me. “Honey, I completely understand if you think we’re the worst sort of people. This has made me think that perhaps we’ve got a bit of soul searching to do as a family. But I want you to know—and I mean every bit of it—that I am so happy to have you here with us. And if you and Chris want us to be, we’ll be part of your lives as much as you’ll let us. I promise you both that we will be better.”

            Chris rested a gentle hand on his mom’s shoulder. I blinked back tears, trying to find the right words to say. I didn’t want Scott to think that his behavior was forgiven, but I didn’t want to be one of those people who holds a grudge. If Scott continued to have a problem, then it would be _his_ problem and not mine.

            “I think that’s wonderful,” I said at last. Dodger harrumphed before plopping down onto the floor, his warm body settled over my feet.

            Lisa started to cry, just a little, and I couldn’t help but get misty eyed myself. Chris gave me a faint smile and a whispered _thank you_ before getting up to bring the two of us something to drink. Scott sat on the arm of the chair looking less than happy, but it didn’t matter. As long as Chris and his mom were good, I could deal with just about anything.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

            “I promise we won’t be out any longer than you want,” Chris said as he clipped a leash on Dodger’s collar. He stood by the door in a Patriot’s t-shirt and a plain blue ball cap. His blue eyes were twinkling with happiness.

            I smiled, struggling just a little to get my socks on. As my stomach got bigger, there were more things that I had a hard time getting done. Chris had teased me about it at the beginning, going on about how I must have been carrying the biggest baby in the world. But as I moved further into the pregnancy, it started to become abundantly clear that there would come a time when I would be helpless.

            After a few moments of watching me try in vain, Chris walked over and knelt in front of me. “She’s getting to be a big girl, isn’t she?”

            “Yes, he is,” I retorted.

            Chris chuckled softly. “I don’t know if this is a good idea—the not knowing. Can’t we find out at the next appointment?”

            “I thought you wanted to be surprised,” I replied, flexing my toes as he tied my tennis shoes. “Not too tight.”

            He tucked his finger beneath the tongue of my shoe, wriggling until there was just a little bit of space between my flesh and the fabric. Chris caressed my ankle, making a soft sigh of concern as he saw how swollen they were.

            “Maybe we should give them a nickname. Just so we can talk about the baby without arguing about whether it’s a boy or girl. Any ideas?” Chris stood up, holding out both hands to help me up to my feet.

            I wobbled, holding tight to his shoulders while I caught my balance. “What about _dragă_? It means darling.”

            Picking up Dodger’s leash, Chris reached out to take my hand. “That sounds beautiful.” He grinned sideways. “ _Tu esti draga mea._ ”

            I blinked, smiling at him in surprise. “You’re learning.”

            “I told you I was going to learn this fucking language,” he said, pulling the door locked behind us. He tucked his keys into his pocket and walked slowly down the hallway toward the elevator. “I’m sick of you and Seb talking shit about me.”

\---

            It was beautiful day outside. The sun was high and bright, and there were fluffy white clouds on the horizon. There was a light breeze, especially once we stepped off the sidewalk and into Central Park. People walked, ran, biked, and rode in horse-drawn carriages. There were other people walking dogs or pushing strollers. Beneath the trees, there was an oft-broken silence—animals, other people, and just the wind in the branches.

            Chris kept one hand on mine and the other tightly held on Dodger’s leash. Sometimes he pulled, wanting to go play with other dogs or people, but Chris kept him under control. I loved taking walks with Dodger, but he was excitable and when he started to go crazy, it was almost impossible for me to keep him from breaking loose.

            “Remember the last time we were in New York,” Chris asked wistfully.

            I grinned. “The Macy’s parade. We stayed in that amazing hotel on Broadway.”

            He squeezed my hand gently. “I got you in backstage to _Hamilton_.”

            Heat rushed into my face as I remembered the rest of our time in New York, the time we’d spent in the hotel together. The first time he’d touched me, and I’d felt the world come apart.

            “I know you’re going to be uncomfortable with our little _dragă_ , but I want you to see the city. More than what you saw last time. The real New York.”

            My head fell against his shoulder. “You sound like _you’re_ a real New Yorker.”

            He chuckled. “I’m here often and Scott lives here, so I know enough to show you more.”

            I wiggled my eyebrows at him. “You’ll show me more, huh?”

            His blue eyes went dark as a mischievous smile curved his lips. “Don’t tempt me, Tati.”

            I grinned, giving his hand a squeeze. “ _Te voi ispiti pentru totdeauna._ ”

            _I’ll tempt you forever._


End file.
